Philosophy Professor Bob Brier received an unusual gift in the mail recently. A mummified hand arrived at Dr. Brier’s office courtesy of Marilyn Tope Doolen of New Mexico. Her father purchased the hand in 1926 on the bank of the Nile River. Marilyn Doolen and her husband decided to donate the hand to Dr. Brier after they saw a series of TV shows on mummies and pyramids that Dr. Brier wrote and hosted for The Learning Channel (TLC).

In October, Dr. Brier teamed up with Jim Joyce, director of C.W Post’s Radiologic Technology Program, to X-ray the hand and determine if it was real. Amid a packed room of students, news reporters and camera crews, Dr. Brier and Professor Joyce announced that the hand was indeed authentic, was mummified between 1000 B.C. and 700 B.C., and probably belonged to an Egyptian woman in her 30s.

“The value of a gift like this cannot be underestimated,” said Dr. Brier. “By using modern technology to study an authentic mummy-even a hand – we can learn so much about the culture, practices and knowledge of ancient Egyptians.”